Who climbs in the Upper Tier???

[chossmonkey]

It's not unfortunate for the other climbers as much as it is for the rock itself. If we climb for another few hundred years then the cliff will be littered with old scars. Prolonging the replacement time should always be of most importance, not cost.

That is probably the most important point. If the bolts can be yanked out and the hole reused it isn't as much of an issue, but with stud bolts all you can do is chop it and patch the hole. Lucky for you guys the rock is mostly really good and there so there should be lots of places available to place the new bolt for a few rounds of replacement. Eventually even the best rock will be to full of holes to find a suitable spot for replacement.


Contrary to popular belief, glue-ins can be removed and the hole reused. I don't know if I would want to be the poor sap to yank them though since it involves a torch and hot metal so close to nylon. Power bolts by Powers can be removed with some effort but they are expensive. The non-ss can seize in the hole and need to be chopped. Fixe Triplex bolts can be very easy to remove, but they have enough potential problems that I don't think I would use them for permanent installations.

[chossmonkey]

When was the SS turning point?

I think in the mid 90's galvanic corrosion started to be talked about, but it wasn't seen as a big issue except for wet environments.

Early 00's were when people really started to question plated bolts. I'm not sure when MEC started carrying SS and quit with the plated. I would guess that should be the point where it was no longer acceptable to put in plated bolts, if not earlier.

The whole change over pains me. I still have a pile of plated bolts I don't know what to do with.

[STeveA]

Since most of us bought our bolts from MEC, I suspect the time they switched to SS is the time that NB climbers switched.

[Shawn B]

I think Steve is right that it was around the time mec started selling them. I remember that the ss bolts that we had access to around here prior to mec carrying them were considerably weaker in both shear and po strength. Thus the reason for using the galvanized ones.